June 11, 2003 -- Santa
Monicans are increasingly well educated, white renters, most of whom
live alone in an affluent city where the cost of living
continues to rise as rents and property values have skyrocketed, according
to an analysis of the 2000 U.S. Census by the RAND Corporation.

In fact, Santa Monica is
rapidly losing the little diversity it has, with its black and Hispanic
populations experiencing significant declines,
the analysis found.

The number of black Santa
Monica residents dropped 17.4 percent since 1990, while the number
of Hispanics declined 7.4 percent, bucking a statewide
trend. By contrast, the number of Hispanics grew by 26.6 percent in Los
Angeles County and by nearly 43 percent in California overall.

But while Hispanics made up 45 percent of the county’s population and
32 percent of the state’s, they accounted for only 13 percent of Santa
Monica’s 84,000 residents.

The decline in the Hispanic population, according to the RAND analysis,
“is significant given that the Latino population continued to expand
in Los Angeles County and the state during the nineties.”

However, researcher Adrian
Overton, the study’s author, cautioned against drawing any broad conclusions
about the declines in the black and Hispanic populations
based solely on the Census numbers.

“It is something to take note of,” Overton said, “but we can’t really
say if it’s a major finding. If it pops up (again) 10 years down the
road, then we may have a trend.”

The decline in the number
of black residents was even more striking than the loss of Hispanics,
with their numbers dropping 17.4 percent, from 3,732 residents in 1990
to just over 3,000 in 2000.

Comparatively, the county
and the state experienced declines of 3.6 percent and 4.3
percent respectively. (The study notes that the 2000 Census was the
first time city residents could indicate being of more than one race
or ethnicity, which “may explain a very small proportion
of the decline in the African-American population.”)

Blacks and Hispanics weren’t the only groups to lose numbers in a city
that saw its general population decline 3.25 percent. Whites -- who accounted
for 72 percent of the population in 2000 -- declined 7.2 percent since1990.

Still, Santa Monica’s white
population was more than double the percentage of Los Angeles County’s
and 25 percent higher than in the rest of California, according
to the analysis.

Asians were the only group whose population increased in Santa Monica
during the 1990s, growing by nearly 14 percent, which reflects “the larger
geographic trend at the county and state levels,” the report noted.

Though its overall population
declined slightly during the 1990s, Santa Monica is “one of the most
densely populated cities in California,” with
just over 10,000 people crammed into each of its 8.3 square miles.

Most Santa Monicans lived
in the 90403 Zip code, which comprises the Wilshire/Montana corridor,
and 90405, which includes Sunset Park and Ocean Park. Each
of the two zip codes accounted for about 30 percent of Santa Monica’s
residents.

The decline in population “is most likely due to the fact that the city
is completely built out with few areas to expand,” the report said.

Most of the city’s residents were renters, the study found, accounting
for 65 percent of occupants of the city’s 48,000 housing units in 2000.
Though the number is high, it represents a slight decline from 69 percent
in 1990.

By contrast, about half
the units in LA County and California are owner-occupied. Renters in
the
city are mostly single, while two to three people typically
occupy an apartment in the county and state.

“The high proportion of single occupant renters in the city is indicative
of the city’s attractiveness to younger working age residents (ages 25
to 44),” the report said. They “are more likely to be single and relatively
well-educated,” compared to county and state residents.

This is the first in a series
of articles profiling Santa Monica based on the latest RAND analysis
of the 2000 U.S. Census.